Happy Holidays!

Google’s decided to combine its Currents and Play Magazines apps on Android into Google Play Newsstand. To celebrate, we’re giving away the Google Play edition of our latest issue forfree—it'll be back to $7.99 on Nov. 27! Get the scoop on 57 fascinating websites you don’t know about and the usual magazine goodness in the Holiday 2013 issue.

Nothing makes us think subscription based software quite like 15 days of free Wi-Fi. Wait what?

It’s not easy to get your ad noticed these days, but packing in a T-Mobile hotspot, complete with 15 days of complimentary access sure doesn’t hurt. Select US editions of Forbes are arriving on door steps today with built in routers, and its all part of a marketing campaign by Microsoft to draw attention to Office 365.

Decide for yourself whether or not to put this one on your holiday wish list, but for those who are interested, and can get away with such a thing with their significant other, Playboy is now selling a 250GB portable hard drive packed with digitally converted Playboy magazines.

When we say packed, we mean nearly every issue to date, starting with the "first treasured issue featuring Marilyn Monroe in December 1953, all the way to the December 2009 issue, featuring Chelsea Handler." That's 56 years of erotica on the go, which works out to over 650 issues and more than 100,000 digital pages.

The drive comes engraved with the Playboy logo, so there's really no hiding what's inside. It includes a mini USB to USB cable and supports Hi-Speed USB 2.0 transfers. The drive itself spins at 5400RPM, and the whole thing is USB powered, so there's no need to dangle an AC adapter.

The future of online media is very much up in the air as news conglomerates look for new ways to generate revenue. But instead of going at it alone, several of the magazine industry's biggest players have been considering joining forces to create a new mega-company.

If it happens, the alliance would be huge and include Time Inc., Conde Nast, and Hearst, which together publishes more than 50 magazines, such as The New Yorker, Time, People, Sports illustrated, The Oprah Magazine, and many more.

The goal is to create a company that will prepare magazines for multiple digital platforms. Those close to the plans have described it as an iTunes for news and magazines.

"It's pretty complicated stuff," said a source. "Thre really, really hard part is that you've got so many different kinds of devices running on different operating systems. And how do you handle that? The consortium provides one point of contact for the consumer. When you come to the main store, you can get the content any way you want."

In this day and age -- where print’s allegedly on the verge of casting off its mortal coil -- the announcement of a new magazine is a bit of an oddity. But then, we’re talking about World of Warcraft here, the brand that once had us a friend eying a bottle of Mtn Dew with something akin to legitimate interest. It’s with that rationale, then, that Future Publishing’s launching a World of Warcraft magazine.

The quarterly publication will “cover all aspects” of WoW, and will be stitched together by an all-star editorial team comprised of people like former Official Xbox Magazine Senior Editor Dan Amrich and industry vet Julian Rignall.

Interested yet? If so, a subscription will run you $39.95 per year, or you can strap in for the long haul and drop $69.95 on two years. But hey, the magazine’s nice and glossy, and ad-free to boot! Gotta pay a little extra for class.

And remember, don’t be too rough on the new publication. It was born and bred under Future’s roof, so that makes it MPC’s big, green, chainmail-clad sister or something. Go easy on the gal, or we might have to rough you up a bit.

It’s the end of an era for videogame magazines. Electronic Gaming Monthly, Ziff Davis’ flagship multiplatform gaming magazine that began publication in 1989, is no more. Today, Ziff Davis announced the sale of its Game Group to Hearst Corporation, owner of the UGO network of websites. EGM, sadly, won’t be making the jump -- nor will the fan-favorite 1UP Show or any of the network's podcasts.

"We are extremely excited to join the UGO team," said Sam Kennedy, editorial director and creator of 1UP. "Relying on UGO's publishing platform will allow us to focus on what we do best -- creating great content and 'owning the conversation' among gamers through our unique, authentic and definitive voice and community."

Many of 1UP/EGM’s former employees, on the other hand, don’t share Kennedy’s excitement. Joystiq has the full list of lay-offs and departures – which they’ve aptly titled “Assessing the damage” – should you wish to get an up-close look at 1UP’s shattered remains.

Our best wishes go out to the many affected by this unexpected turn of events. Your smiling faces' monthly presence in our mailbox will be sorely missed. Even so, whatever you do next, we’re sure it’ll be amazing.